Mozzarella, feta, and schnitzel all carry a relevant kitchen verb in their names. Mozzarella comes from an Italian word meaning “cut,” and feta from a Greek word with the same meaning. German schnitzel also derives from a word meaning “to cut,” the same cutting idea behind Schneider, a tailor. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Italian, Greek, and German Roots Tie “Mozzarella,” “Feta,” and “Schnitzel” to Cutting”
We’re talking earlier about foods that are named for what’s done to them, like toast and pickles.
And I was thinking that there are also more subtle examples of that.
Like, for example, mozzarella, the cheese, gets its name from the Italian word for cut.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, because it’s cut.
But it’s obscured to us because we borrowed the word.
Exactly.
Same with feta cheese.
It comes from a Greek word that means cut.
And schnitzel in German also comes from a word that means in German to cut.
We get the word Schneider from that, which is a tailor, somebody who does cutting or Schneider.
That’s super cool.
Yeah.
